College women’s hockey: Assistant Kelly leaves Clarkson

POTSDAM — Clarkson University women’s hockey assistant coach Matt Kelly is leaving the program to become the head scout for the U.S. Women’s National Team.

Kelly, a native of Hull, Mass., was the only assistant on Clarkson’s staff the last six seasons because the school had co-head coaches in Matt and Shannon Desrosiers.

Shannon resigned as co-head coach after the season because she gave birth to the couple’s second child and wanted to spend more time with her kids. Clarkson is in the process of finalizing the hiring of one assistant coach, but it has not been formally announced yet. The program now will be looking to hire a second assistant.

Kelly joined the staff prior to the 2008-09 season and was a former goaltender for Wayne State. Clarkson won 134 games while Kelly was a member of the staff, including the national championship last spring.

A former goaltender, he worked with Clarkson’s goalies and also did a lot of video breakdown for the squad. He could not be reached for comment.

Kelly’s new job will require him to identify and develop players in the U.S. Hockey player pool.

Potsdam native Gavin Regan, the vice president for international hockey for USA Hockey, played a part in Kelly’s hiring.

“We opened it up to a national search,” Regan said. “We had a lot of great candidates. He is really energetic, on the way up, just winning a national championship. It will give him instant credibility in the rinks. He will be dealing with high-level players, administrators and coaches. He is going to work hard. He has a great work ethic and great integrity. If you want to win gold medals have to have people out there hustling and working hard and seeing a lot of games and doing the right things.”

“We’re excited to add Matt to our staff and look forward to his contributions to the women’s program,” said Reagan Carey, director of women’s hockey at USA Hockey.

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